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Web content filter for iOS

April 15, 2020 10:33

This article describes Miradore's web content filter configuration profile for iOS that can be used by Business and Enterprise Plan customers to whitelist and blacklist specific web URLs and restrict user's access to configured web pages. If you're interested, consider upgrading your site to the Business or Enterprise Plan. See more in How to upgrade subscription.

Requirements:

Active Business/Enterprise Plan subscription or Trial.

Requires that devices are Supervised. The most convenient way to get devices into Supervised mode is to enroll them through the Apple Device Enrollment Program.

What does the web content filter configuration profile do?

The web content filter configuration profile allows an administrator to whitelist and blacklist specific web URLs and restrict user's browser access to configured web pages. Administrators can also apply a default auto filter to the managed iOS devices. This denies the user's access from most of the explicit and dangerous content that is not accepted when using corporate devices.

How to deploy a web content filter to a device

First you need to create a new configuration profile and define the desired web content filters and restrictions. Start by navigating to Mobile management > Configuration profiles and start the Create configuration profile action from the page action menu. See Creating a configuration profile for more details.

When creating the web content filter profile, you have to define the following settings that are explained below.

Auto filter settings tab

Auto filter enabled

Optional. Defines if the built-in auto filter is enabled. This denies the user's access from most of the explicit, adult and dangerous content that is not accepted when using corporate devices.

Allowed URLs

Optional. Defines a list of URLs that are accessible whether the automatic filter allows access or not. Used only when the auto filter is enabled.

Whitelist tab

Whitelisted bookmarks

Optional. Defines a list of URLs that are whitelisted and allowed for the user. The user is not allowed to visit any other web pages. You can also define a title for the allowed URL, in which case a bookmark is created and added to the browser’s bookmarks. Each whitelisted bookmark contains:

Url: Defines the URL that is allowed for the user.

Title: Optional. Defines the title of the bookmark.

Folder: Optional. Defines the folder into which the bookmark should be added, for example, /Bookmarks/Work/.

Blacklist tab

Blacklisted URLs

Optional. Defines a list of URLs are denied from the user.

Once the web content filter configuration profile has been created, administrators can deploy it to Supervised iOS devices. See more information in Deploying a configuration profile. After the profile has been successfully deployed, the user's web access is restricted.

Please note: There have been some reports that enabling web content filters on iOS device prevents also clearing the Safari browser browsing history. In practice this means that the option Settings > Safari > Clear History and Website Data is grayed out (disabled) on the device. Similar side effect has been reported on Apple support forums after enabling the content restrictions manually from the device end.

How to disable web content filter

Web content filters can be disabled by simply deleting the deployed configuration profile from the device. This can be done by opening the device page and clicking the trashcan icon in Configuration profiles table. See Removing deployed configuration profiles for more information.